Hike Minimum Wage? Robots Take Our Jobs.
May. 5th, 2024 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerRight after I posted my almost-leaving-for-Mexico blog from the United Club Lounge yesterday morning I saw this little number: a robot busing dishes.
The first thing that struck me was, "Yeah, this is the kind of thing that happens when we raise the minimum wage." I'm not anti-labor or anti-paying people living wages. It's just the reality of the situation; actions have consequences. Increasing the cost of hiring people increases the number of situations where business find it more cost-effective to employ technology instead. That's a big part of why ordering kiosks are replacing workers at fast food restaurants, there's self-checkout (SCO) at grocery and hardware stores, and— here, for example— robots are doing menial tasks.
The second thing that hit me was, "I wonder if the screen on the back of the robo-cart is asking for a tip." 🤣 Tipping has gotten out of control... especially in cases where automated systems prompt for tips. Like, if I'm ordering from a kiosk and/or paying via SCO, WTF am I tipping for? Whom am I tipping? *I* am literally doing the work!
As far as the first point, this robot has not entirely replaced staff busing tables. There are still a number of people at the United Club Lounge clearing tables. It's likely this robot is an experiment on feasibility and cost-effectiveness.
The first thing that struck me was, "Yeah, this is the kind of thing that happens when we raise the minimum wage." I'm not anti-labor or anti-paying people living wages. It's just the reality of the situation; actions have consequences. Increasing the cost of hiring people increases the number of situations where business find it more cost-effective to employ technology instead. That's a big part of why ordering kiosks are replacing workers at fast food restaurants, there's self-checkout (SCO) at grocery and hardware stores, and— here, for example— robots are doing menial tasks.
The second thing that hit me was, "I wonder if the screen on the back of the robo-cart is asking for a tip." 🤣 Tipping has gotten out of control... especially in cases where automated systems prompt for tips. Like, if I'm ordering from a kiosk and/or paying via SCO, WTF am I tipping for? Whom am I tipping? *I* am literally doing the work!
As far as the first point, this robot has not entirely replaced staff busing tables. There are still a number of people at the United Club Lounge clearing tables. It's likely this robot is an experiment on feasibility and cost-effectiveness.
